


What a Cat-Astrophy

by annoyedraccoon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: College AU, M/M, i dont even. what even is this why did i write this, magic au but its real lowkey, this entire fic is keith being mad and lance panicking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 03:12:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7491135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annoyedraccoon/pseuds/annoyedraccoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an unlucky turn of events, Keith gets cursed and transformed into a cat. To make his life even more miserable, one college kid finds him and decides to adopt him. And worst of all, that kid was Lance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What a Cat-Astrophy

**Author's Note:**

> Direct me to The Nearest Trash Can

Keith ran past the medical building, almost tripping as he turned the corner.

“Lance, you asshole,” He muttered with his phone up to his ear, looking back at the ominous group of men following him. He’d already called Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge, why was no one answering their damn phones? “ _pick up_.”

But as expected he heard the obnoxious “Hello? ....SIKE haha, this is Lance, leave a message!”

Where was on-campus police when you needed them? Keith knew he shouldn’t have stayed in the library studying so late. Not only did he get jumped by these shitheads, but apparently some of them were magic users. If there were only one or two, Keith could trust he’d take them. Maybe even three if luck was on his side. But, this was a whole group. Keith didn’t doubt his magic abilities, but against such numbers—

“Take this, mullet!” 

Too late to swerve, one of the guys shot a beam of ice on the sidewalk, causing Keith to fall on his ass. He winced and looked up at the gang approaching, all smug and proud of Keith’s defeat. His phone clattered away, out of reach. He was surrounded now.

Keith’s chest felt heavy from running, but he didn’t hesitate to scoff. “Why don’t you guys get fucking lives?”

A dark skinned boy in the middle, rather tall, stepped closer and squatted down. “This is much more fun.”

Keith’s eyes darted around at the thugs all dressed in black. “Well, what are you going to do? I’m in college I have like, 2 dollars.”

“Why don’t you show him what ya got, Zee?” One kid yelled to the likely leader, and others followed in the excitement. The guy before Keith, presumably Zee, smiled.

“Alright, alright.” He pointed his finger at Keith, and declared with quiet concentration, “ _Feline_.”

Without even the opportunity to scream, Keith was suddenly surrounded by a red glow, he could see nothing but. His nerve endings started acting out wildly, causing more pain than Keith had ever felt but he couldn’t even scream, did—did he even have a throat? He couldn’t sense where his body was, he didn’t even realize that was something he usually _did_.

Yet finally, the glow ebbed, as well as the pain, and Keith opened his eyes to find...those guys got a lot taller. Or, well, he...

He was smaller. And naked. What?

“Damn, he’s _adorable_.” One guy said, his lip quivering with admiration. “All with the big eyes, and his fur is just as fluffy as his normal hair!”

“Stop being such a pussy, man.” Zee demanded, picking up Keith’s clothing lying beside him. Keith went to yell at him, but all that came out was a hiss. A _hiss_.

Keith was then picked up by the nape of his neck, he was pretty sure at least, by someone behind him. He wriggled and wrestled with the unknown captor, but he could only watch helplessly as his bag and clothes were searched.

“Man is this a first gen holographic Charizard?” one guy said, holding up Keith’s lucky card he got when he was seven from his foster brother Kevin. He hissed again, fuming and kicking his hind legs. Confused by the feeling of his limbs, Keith looked down at his body in horror. He did not have that much hair last time he checked.

“I’m taking it.”

“Yeah, I bet that card’s worth a lot these days.” Zee replied.

“Aw hell no, man. I’m keeping it for myself. Always wanted Charizard.”

“...I hate you.” 

Once the gang was done mugging Keith, they decided to leave Keith there on the sidewalk, not killing the cat in regard to the guy who claimed he was too cute to kill.

Keith wanted to barf. Or maybe cough up a furball? 

He was. He was a cat.

A straight up, black short hair, pointy eared, fanged, tailed _kitty_.

What kind of gang goes around mugging people by turning them into cats!?

 

Keith wasn’t sure what to do. He couldn’t call anyone, hell he couldn’t communicate besides mewl and hiss. Still, he knew that the chances this state was permanent was slim; if that guy was strong enough to cast a permanent curse he wouldn’t be on the streets mugging college students.

But, he didn’t want to get caught by anyone, anyway, since that would possibly lead to going to an animal pound and either adopted by some little girl or put down. Keith shuddered at both thoughts.

And yet not getting caught meant wandering around as a cat. Shit, he couldn’t be like this, he had an exam tomorrow! That why he’d been out late in the first place. If only he’d asked Shiro to stay out—

Wait. Shiro! Keith could get him to figure out who he was! And he’d know how to fix it; even if he didn’t, his partner in crime Pidge would. Or Allura, she’s the best magic user on campus. She could probably undo it with a snap of her fingers.

Yes, that sounds like a plan. Finding Shiro was first priority. He knew Keith better than anyone, so he’d be the one that would figure out he wasn’t just some stray. This would work. This would—

Keith felt his stomach growl. Okay, so he hasn’t eaten in a while, and the change in his DNA probably cost some energy for his body. But how the hell was he going to...

He looked over at a trashcan nearby, his heightened senses showing to him the scents of old pizza and Chinese food mixed with the reeking garbage.

Wasn't this day just fucking purrfect.

(Was that an interally monologued cat pun? shoot him now.)

 

By morning, Keith had lost all of his dignity. He’d eaten out of the trash, took a nap in a bush (he did not realize how much he would need to _sleep_ in this body) and almost got hit by two cars, a bike, and a poor freshman late for his 8 am class. He also discovered how strange and disturbing using the bathroom was in this body.

He’d tried to stay out of sight as college students began crowding the streets, but he had to stay close enough to find Shiro. It was a Thursday; his friend was going to be at his Physics class until ten, so he tried to stick around the science building. He heard way too many girls shriek in excitement when they saw him, and even got pet a couple times. He hated the invasion of space but...Well, it sorta felt good, so he didn’t protest too harshly.

But he had to be on the lookout for when Shiro was leaving the building. He paced around the grassy area in front, feeling his tail flick around in his frustration. 

This was horrible, so so horrible, and he wasn't even considering the fact he'd lost a good amount of his stuff thanks to that gang. 

He never realized how much it would suck to be a freaking cat. He kept having to scratch his head and the only way he could reach it was by using his hind legs, what kind of flexibility was that? And he felt gross, all with the cat hair being in every possible place, and smelling like garbage and there was dirt and mud caked in the pads of his paws. And not to mention what happened to his privates, he didn’t even want to think about that. God, this _sucked_.

Finally ten o’clock seemed to roll around, as the science building started pouring out with students onto their next classes or naps. He jumped out onto the sidewalk, looking up at the humans walking around him. A couple “aws” and “holy shit, a cat” seemed to follow him, but luckily they were all too busy to pay him much more attention than that. But damn it, where was Shiro? He had to be around somewhere. 

“Look, I know, but it isn’t like him.” A familiar voice was saying. Keith turned around to see his roommate talking on his phone, clad in jeans and his famous green parka. “Okay, fine, it’s totally like him, but he wouldn’t just up and—”

Lance stopped talking, his gaze lowered on Keith. He looked tired and stressed, brown hair all ruffled like he hadn’t spent twenty minutes combing it like he usually does, but seeing as how he was up before ten was a good enough reason for that. 

Actually...Why _was_ he up? Lance didn’t have class until two on Thursdays. What was he doing heading over there? And why was he staring at Keith like that, did he recognize him? Holy hell, Lance was finally useful for something. 

“Hunk,” Lance said into his phone, a smile falling on his lips. “I just found the cutest cat. It’s staring at me. I think—Holy Mary, I’ve been chosen.”

Never mind. Lance wasn’t useful for anything.

Lance, could not possibly sense the aggression coming off the cat before him, however. “Yeah he’s black, that doesn’t mean he’s bad luck! I’m...Change of plans, can you find Shiro for me? I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

Lance hung up the phone and stuffed it into his bookbag slung over his back. And after that, his face lit up as he squatted down.

“Hey little guy...” Lance said to him, reaching a hand out. Keith reared back with a growl rising in his throat. God, this idiot, he was going to ruin everything!

Lance’s pulled his hand back gently, a very hurt look on his face. He ignored the annoyance from both the cat and the students having to walk around him. “Hey, I’m—I’m not gonna hurt you. I swear. Do you have an owner? Cats can’t be on campus, you know.”

 _Idiot, do you always talk to cats like this,_ Keith would’ve said, but he could only stare as his roommate looked around, and suddenly scooped Keith up from the concrete. He hissed in response, but Lance pressed him to his chest, which, okay it was the most comfortable Keith had felt in a while. But geesh, he smelled like sweat.

“Scratch me as you want,” Lance said, turning on his heel and walking back towards their dorm building. “I grew up with eight cats and three dogs, I can take it.”

As much as Keith liked the offer, he ignored it.

“I don’t think my roommate will approve of this, but he’ll have to suck it up.”

Approve of what? 

 

Keith didn’t completely put it together until Lance set him down on his bed, back in their bunk-bedded cramped dorm room. It looked about the same as Keith had left it, with both of the boys’ clothing scattered across the floor and xbox controllers laid about in front of the futon from the last time Pidge and Hunk had come over. Doritos bags and Mountain Dew bottles were cluttered around the room, and it was only with Keith’s heightened sense of smell he realized how much they needed to clean.

“Like the place?” Lance said to the cat version of his roommate. “Mi casa es su casa, Lady Killer. That’ll be your name now.”

...Lady Killer.

Lance smiled and scratched Keith’s ear, which he involuntarily leaned into. It was—it just felt _nice_ okay?

“I’m gonna go head back to the science building and go to class and all, but I’ll be back.” Lance said, going back to the door. Wait. He was gonna be trapped in here.

Keith jumped down from the bed and attacked Lance’s legs, meowing. He needed to notice him, he has to figure it out, please—

“Hey, I know I’m great, but I’ve got places to be.” Lance said, reaching down and sliding his hand down his flank. Keith was momentarily distracted by the comforting touch, giving Lance enough time to step over him and to the door. 

“I’ll bring you some food and water, okay? And if Keith shows up, tell him I hate him.” Lance told him, and then the door was shut. 

Well, at least it couldn’t get much worse now.

 

After a few hours passed, though, Keith couldn’t take it anymore. He’d tried bathing himself (he didn’t want to talk about it), and he took a nap on Lance’s pillow (he fell when he’d tried getting to his own lofted bed), but he was too restless and too hungry. Waiting around wasn’t making anything better. If anything, it was getting him used to being in the body of a cat and that was _not_ something he wanted to get comfortable with.

So first, he managed to get on his MacBook he’d left open on his desk. Typing proved to be incredibly difficult with only his paw and pink button nose to use instead of fingers, but he managed to open up google, search “cat spell” and check out its Wikipedia page. There had to be an answer somewhere.

The article explained it was a class 5 spell in its regular use, so that was a relief; likely temporary or easy to reverse, especially if that gang member was an amateur. It was unique of a spell though, its usage along with most shape-shifting ones was most common and most successful in those of Indian or Native American decent. So the chances Keith would be able to reverse it himself was slim—he wasn’t even sure he could perform magic in this body. 

But sadly, Keith couldn’t find anything about undoing it, anyways, what spell or potion it would take. Most reports seem to say the spell wears off, but how long it lasts have varying answers, stating the scarcity of the spell makes research on its disappearance hard to calculate. Some say it lasted two hours, others, two _years_. That would set Keith’s college career back quite a bit. 

Keith sighed—sighed? Do cats sigh?—and grabbed a piece of paper from his pile of books by his teeth. It’ll be hard, but he still remembers how to write. He’ll leave a sign, that’s completely idiot-Lance-proof. 

He spent what was probably about thirty minutes getting the cap off of a sharpie. Then it was probably another two hours to just write his name. Initially he’d thought to write “It’s Keith, help lance, I’m trapped in the body of the cat you adopted” but the marker kept slipping out of his jaws and sliding around that it was hard enough to just write “keith”. 

He’d only realized after the fact he could’ve typed it out on his computer...which he’d accidentally closed when he was getting the paper.

Fuck.

 

“LK, I’m home!” Lance greeted when he opened the door. Keith froze from his feeble attempts at getting the MacBook back open, looking at Lance with grocery bags in his arms. “Did Keith come back?”

In Keith’s attempt of calling him a dumbass, he meowed. Lance shrugged, setting down his bags by the door and picking Keith up off the MacBook.

“Here, don’t mess with that.” Lance told him. “Keith would kill me if anything happened to that.”

 _I’m Keith, I can do what I want with it!_ Keith wanted to say, although he was a little surprised that Lance was actively trying to protect his stuff. 

Luckily though, Lance seemed to notice the note on the desk Keith had made. Lance raised an eyebrow, maybe putting together that it was out of place.

The boy picked it up, and he squinted at it. “Does this just say “Keith” over his history notes? What the hell is that guy on?” He redirected his attention to the cat. “Was this here before?”

Keith meowed loudly, leaning up on Lance’s shin and trying to paw at the paper. C’mon. Put it together. Cat. Keith. It’s right in front of you. C’mon. 

But the boy only frowned, a worry in his brow that Keith wasn’t expecting to see. “...Thought so.” 

Lance turned around and tossed the paper back on the desk. Keith growled at him for it, because seriously? That moron, it was so _obvious_ , but Lance didn’t seem to care.

“Well...whatever. Bought some cat food, you’re probably hungry.” Lance said, pulling the gross pellet food out of the grocery bag. “And some bowls, I’ll get you some water, too. I didn’t commit to a litterbox yet though so...maybe I’ll potty train you. My sister did that with our cat Butters once, I bet I could do it.”

He was rambling again, and Keith watched horrified as Lance prepared him a bowl of cat food. Oh, he was _not_ going to eat that. Lance went into their bathroom and filled up a bowl with water, but Keith stubbornly rejected the food. He was not Lance’s pet. He would never be Lance’s pet. 

“Did you... drink from the toilet?” Lance asked when he returned, to which Keith wouldn’t have answered even if he could. It...You need water to survive. It was his catlike, survival instincts. 

Lance rolled his eyes, and set the second bowl down by the food dish. “Why aren’t you eating? Geesh, were you abused or something? You don’t look like a stray.”

Lance looked into Keith’s eyes, his gaze so warm and protective. He’d honestly had no idea Lance was such an animal person. And then the boy pet him again, this time with repetitive strokes along his spine. Keith caught himself leaning into it again, enjoying the touch. Yeah, that was the...survival instincts again. 

And then Lance stopped, which was disappointing, but he pulled a subway sandwich out of the grocery bag, which was not disappointing. The stench was overwhelming to his cat nose; he could smell the peppers, the meat, the Italian herb and cheese breading, and the sauce. Holy shit, was he hungry.

Lance set the sandwich down on his desk as he got his stuff out and rummaged for a water bottle. Taking advantage of his distraction, Keith leapt up to the desk and pulled the sandwich towards him with his teeth.

“Wha-Hey!” Lance yelled in indignation. “That’s mine!”

Keith challenged Lance with a glare. And for some reason, Lance actually gave in.

“..Fine. Just this once. I wasn’t that hungry, anyways.” He stood from his chair and ruffled the cat’s fur between his ears. “You’re lucky you’re cute, Lady Killer.”

Oh, how pissed Lance was gonna be when he found out.

Lance disappeared into the bathroom for a while, so Keith laid down on his roommate’s desk and basked in the turkey meat sub. He got the hang of eating it without hands to direct the motion eventually, and he fared in biting around the banana peppers because that shit was nasty. He caught himself purring out of bliss, but forced it to stop because he was not about to start behaving even more like a cat. 

“Enjoy your luxury footlong?” 

Keith looked up and his eyes widened. Lance stood before him, combing a hand through his wet hair, chest and arms soaking, and a blue towel loosely draped around his slender waist. Shit, Keith was glad Lance rarely showered while he was around, this sight was sin to even look at. With that tan skin and those lean muscles, he easily had the body of a _god_. He watched as Lance reached down to the towel and—Wait shit he wasn’t going to—oh no, oh motherfuckingnonono.

Keith yowled in fear and leapt off the desk just as Lance removed the towel covering his junk to dry off his hair. He hid under the bed, burying his face into the floor with his paws on his head.

“Weirdo.” He heard Lance scoff. That idiot, getting all naked, and just, for all things holy, _naked_. Of course he had no way of knowing his gay roommate was the cat he’d picked up off the street, but...ugh. He already wouldn’t be able to erase the image of him shirtless out of his brain, never mind the whole package.

Keith was careful and waited until it sounded like he was done getting dressed before sliding out from under the bed, and he found Lance at his desk, still not in a shirt but wearing his dark purple joggers that looked way too good on his hips.

He was working on some online homework, but he really didn’t look focused. His fingers tapped on the notebook in front of him restlessly, and he wasn’t even looking at the screen. His Spanish music was playing softly from a Spotify tab.

He heard himself mewl, an unexpected gesture, and Lance flipped his head around at the sound.

“There you are, Lady Killer.” Lance welcomed, with a weirdly thoughtful expression. Was this...was this his sad face? Keith had never really seen Lance not smiling or laughing, unless he was embarrassed by yours truly or their other friends. But Lance’s lips were pouting, only slightly, his thin eyebrows drawn back, he was _sad_ , why was he sad? 

Lance turned around in his chair and patted his lap. Keith decided to accept the invite, but only because Lance was sad and it was weird. Real weird. 

He started petting him like it was second nature, and Keith let him. Maybe Lance will feel better if he’s coddling an apparently cute cat. What else was he gonna do, anyways. He wasn’t used to this much touch, but it didn’t feel bad, especially when it came from Lance.

“I should probably give you to an animal shelter, my RA is gonna be pissed if he finds you,” Lance explained, but Keith growled to reject the idea. Lance chuckled. 

“Already love me that much?” He smiled. “’S ok. I get it all the ti—”

He was interrupted by his phone on the bed vibrating along with the chorus of “Hips don’t lie”, and he practically threw Keith off of his lap to get to it. His fur bristled in exasperation. 

“Shiro!” Lance answered hurriedly, looking relieved. “Did you hear anything?”

Keith flicked his ears up in attempts to hear, but he couldn’t make out anything Shiro was saying on the other line.

It obviously wasn’t good though, because Lance’s relief seemed to dribble away. “Oh. Okay. Uh, yeah, no. I haven’t seen him here. I don’t think he’s even stopped by.”

Keith’s mind blanked for moment. Was...was Lance talking about him?

“I know, he’s probably fine, y-you’re right.” Lance sighed, pacing around the dorm. He carded his fingers through his short brown locks, the way he did when he was stressed out. “It’s only been a day but—well yeah I told his bio prof; he’d fail the whole class if I didn’t!” 

That was why Lance had been awake. And in the science building. He was looking for Keith. Hell, Keith didn’t even know Lance _knew_ he had an exam. He’d even went and told his teacher what happened. That was so... thoughtful.

Lance hesitated while he listened to their friend, looking over at the cat version of Keith. “That’s why I’m worried. I thought for sure he’d hooked up with someone, as gross as _that’d_ be, and he’d be at his exam today but...He wasn’t. Keith is fucking insane about tests, he wouldn’t do that.”

From the sounds on the phone, Shiro was trying to interject, but Lance was ranting now. “He’d called me, man. And he hasn’t answered anything since! He’s never been great at answering texts I guess, but you’d think he’d say something to one of us by now. It just—it doesn’t feel right, something’s wrong I... I think he’s really missing, Takeshi.”

Keith didn’t catch Shiro’s response, but he heard the word “family”.

“Yeah, well, that’s where we come in, right? We’re family enough.” Lance starting biting at his nails, but what he’d just said dug deep into Keith’s fur. Family. 

“Tomorrow? Shouldn’t we report it as soon as possible? That’s how it works, person missing, you report it, it’s pretty self-explanatory in my—”

Another interjection, and Lance sighed and slumped down on his bed. “...I guess, okay. Thanks.”

“It’ll be all right, Lance.” Keith managed to hear from Shiro now that the phone was closer. Despite the words, he could hear worry in the upperclassman’s tone as well. “We’ll find him.”

“I hope so.” Lance agreed nervously, and he ended the call, a crushed look on his face. Why was...Keith couldn’t believe it. Lance was sincerely worried. About him. Keith. The guy he literally greets everyday with “mortal enemy”. Keith had tried his fair share of times to make things good between them, but Lance had continued to be his showy smug self every time he turned around. He knew Lance wasn’t really as cocky as he acted but...He didn’t realize he actually cared about him.

“Ugggghh.” Lance groaned, lying down on his back, legs still dangling off the bed. “Why is he such an _idiot_ , that Keith, I’m gonna kick his ass when he gets back. Then maybe hug him. Then hit him again.”

Not knowing what else to do, Keith jumped up on the bed and stepped on Lance’s stomach. He grunted from the added weight, but smiled a bit and scratched him under his chin. 

“Sorry, you’re a good roommate, but you won’t replace Keith.” He noted, and Keith wasn’t sure whether to take that as an insult or a compliment.

“I wonder if he likes cats.” Lance murmured to himself, and then he held himself up by his elbows. “I think you’d like him though.”

Keith only flicked his ears, and Lance shrugged. “Pretty sure he’s a little weird in the head, but he’s okay. He’s good at—at like, _everything_. And he pretends he doesn’t care about people, he never really had a family, so he acts like, like he doesn’t need one, doesn’t even realize... Dios, he tries to be all cool but he’s not, he’s a total dork, and he has this laugh, and smile, and his eyes are so—”

Lance suddenly went slack in the face. “...I’m talking to a cat.”

 _You didn’t notice the first hundred times?_ Keith thought.

It wasn’t until Lance raised his eyebrows the cat realized he’d started purring again. “See, you already like Keith. How damn typical, that damn pretty boy. Even this fucking cat loves you.”

He laid his head back down, but he didn’t stop petting the cat lying on his stomach. “...Hope he’s okay, though. I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s hurt. Or worse. I don’t know. If I didn’t miss that call...Ugh, What do you think, LK?”

He meowed in his desperation to respond, but it wasn’t like Lance could translate. He just...He felt so confused. Let alone the confusion he was currently a God damn cat, but seeing Lance like this, while it made his little kitty heart warm and fuzzy to know he cares (he even called them _family_ ), Lance was beating himself up over it, he wasn’t doing his studying he definitely needed, and he just looked miserable.

Lance lifted the cat off his stomach and set him down by his pillow. He sat up only to flip off the overhead light, and turned on his side, shutting his eyes. Keith stared, enjoying the new quality of seeing well in the dark, and admiring his roommate’s eyelashes and high cheekbones and his light splash of freckles and everything about him really. And he smelled like his melon shampoo, but under that was dirt and home cooked meals, like the remains of his home. It was pleasant. 

At least, if anything, Keith learned some useful info about Lance with this transformation. But he needed to be a human again if he was going to be able to do anything with it. As much as he enjoyed learning Lance’s secrets and getting free pets out of it, he’d prefer Lance’s human to human friendship. 

He watched as Lance fell asleep, that furrow in his brow not quite disappearing. His arm had stayed sprawled over Keith’s tummy, but he tolerated it. And before he knew it, he was asleep too, smelling nothing but his crush’s scent.

 

Morning light filtered through the window blinds, trying to pull Keith out of his dreams. Keith tried to stuff his face into the blankets, covering his face with his hand in hopes it would block out the sun. He couldn’t register much, he just wanted to sleep, the bed with Lance was so—

Keith’s eyes shot wide open.

Hands. Not paws.

He stayed frozen, because at that slightest movement Lance’s arm around Keith’s bare waist tightened and pulled his body closer to the heat spooning him from behind. Keith’s face felt even hotter. And yet Lance hadn’t noticed anything, as he just buried his face into the crook of his neck affectionately.

“Mmm...Don’ leave yet.” Lance mumbled, so sleepily and hoarsely, Keith wasn’t sure if he was actually awake. 

However, Keith became absolutely positive Lance was awake when he suddenly shrieked.

“Holy FUCK, WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Lance shot up into a sitting position as he stared at the boy next to him. Keith flipped around and of course it was then—along with Lance’s eyes locking on Keith’s body and turning redder than a firetruck in a matter of .006 seconds—he discovered his transformation back into a human had occurred overnight, and it did not have the decency to provide clothing. 

Lance leapt off the bed in embarrassed terror, covering his face in his hands.

“I—” Keith grabbed for the blankets to cover himself up, his own face getting as red as Lance’s. “THIS ISN’T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.”

“WHAT ARE YOU EVEN—” Lance shook his head, trying to calm himself with wild hand gestures. “Y-you disappeared. Where were you? W-WHERE WERE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU NAKED IN MY BED?”

“I, uh...” Keith looked down sheepishly. “I...got turned into a cat.”

Lance stared blankly, which was an understanding reaction. 

“Say what now.”

Keith, still naked, tried desperately to explain the situation to Lance, still red. When he finished the odd tale of the magic users who robbed him, cursed him and left him on campus, Lance at last nodded with comprehension and decided, “You... are a big fat liar.”

“What?” Keith gave him a dumbfounded scowl. “Why would I _lie_ about this?”

“W-well, prove it!”

Keith put his hand on his chin in thought. “I stole your sandwich. It was a turkey and cheddar cheese sub with banana peppers.”

He squinted suspiciously. “...What sauce?”

“Chipotle.”

“Stalker.”

“Lance, this is _my room_.”

“I don’t believe you. WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY CAT? ME AND LADY KILLER HAD SOMETHING, KEITH!”

“Lance, you named me Lady Killer.”

“THAT IS IRRELEVANT.” And then Lance grimaced, catching the way he’d said ‘me’. “Dios, were—you were seriously the cat.”

“...Yeah.”

“You got mugged by a magic gang and they turned you into a cat and I adopted you as a cat.”

“Basically the idea.”

Lance put his hands on his hips, and Keith could practically see the gears in his head, working so hard to wrap around the facts. Finally,

“I hate you.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Hey, it wasn’t my fault this happened, you’re the one who picked me up!”

“Hunk was right, you’re bad luck. Go away.”

“Lance—”

“I mean it.” Lance pouted, turning around. He was just being stubborn now. “I’m never talking to you again. I’m gonna put in a roommate complaint. I hate you.”

Keith pursed his lips, frustrated and embarrassed, but his lips rose into a smirk.

“That’s not what you said about me to _Lady Killer_.”

Unable to process a dignified comeback to that, Lance screamed. Keith couldn’t help clutching his stomach in laughter, knowing that flashing through his friend’s mind was the Keith centered reveries he’d shared with the cat earlier.

“YOU’RE THE _WORST_!” He finally cried, pointing at Keith. He’d never seen him this mortified—and with Lance’s embarrassing track record, that was saying something.

Lance was pacing around, and Keith found himself focusing less on his words and more on the way those joggers looked on his legs. “I-That was all out of context. Er, I didn’t mean it. Well, no, I meant it but it’s—I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU, OKAY?”

Keith’s laughing subsided as he noticed Lance had just said something sensible. Lance huffed, grabbed a hoodie off his chair and zipped it up grumpily. “I’m...gonna go get breakfast.”

Keith stared at him, wondering what he was waiting for. “Okay.”

After another beat of awkward silence, Lance crossed the room and hugged Keith, still sitting up on the bed.

“I’m...glad you’re okay.” He admitted, and Keith’s heart skipped a beat, his skin tingled.

“...I”m still naked.”

Lance yelped and let go, making a break for the door.

“You—Just—BYE.” And the door slammed, leaving Keith alone in Lance’s bed, a weird smile resting on his face along with the strangely warm feeling Lance gave him. He’d never hugged him before.

Maybe Keith should get cursed by magic gangs more often.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading lmao 
> 
> (btw if u want it to be even more Gay™: the curse is losely like beauty and the beast: it was broken with affection)


End file.
